Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-22 ng Marso 2025
Larawan ng una kong birthday, sigisty years ago; nakaalalay sa akin si mommy (SLN) habang masayang nagsindi ng kandila ang kanyang Ditse, ang Tita Connie na nasa Amerika at buhay pa kasama ng kanyang mga anak na sina Alexis na ka-birthday ko katabi ng mommy at si RAF katabi ko; si Kuya Edgar pinakamatangkad at matanda sa mga pinsan ay nasa Amerika din. Di ko matiyak sinu-sino mga kasama sa party na mga pinsan ko lahat.
Sigisty years old na ako. Sa isang taon sigisty one Sa susunod sigisty two tapos sigisty three sigisty four sigisty five sigisty six sigisty seven sigisty eight at ewan, kung aabutin ko pa mag(ing) sigisty-nine.
Salamuch sa lahat ng mga nakasama at nakasabay sa paglalakbay sa buhay nitong anim na dekada, sa mga naniwala at ayaw pa ring maniwala; ang lahat ay pagpapala ng Mabuting Bathala na sa atin ay lumikha itinakda tayong maging ganap sa piling Niyang Banal.
Maraming dapat ipagpasalamat sa aking mga biyayang natanggap bagaman kulang na kulang at tiyak kakapusin aking mabubuting gawain kaya sana ako ay inyong patawarin lalo ng Panginoong butihin; wala akong panghihinayang sa aking mga nakaraan na kung aking babalikan ay hindi ko na babaguhin bagkus lahat ay uulitin pa rin!
Hindi man pansin ako ay mahiyain, alinlangan sa aking husay at galing, napipigilan palagi lumarga at magsapalaran sa maraming hamon ng buhay kaya't nitong mga nagdaan akin nang pinag-iisipan magpahingalay tigilan nang pakikibaka manahimik na lang, umiwas sa ingay at gulo ng buhay.
Bukod sa 20-percent discount
ng pagiging senior sixty-cent
pinakamasarap sa pagiging sigisty
ang napakaraming ala-alang masarap
balikan maski na marami ring
masasakit at mapapait na di malilimutan
na sadyang sakbibi nating palagi
dapat pa ring ipagpasalamat
sa maraming aral sa atin nagmulat
masarap pa rin ang mabuhay
kaya't sabik ko nang hinihintay
walang hanggang kinabukasan
maaring malasap
ano man ating edad
kung mamumuhay nang ganap.
2004 sa Parokya ng Santisima Trinidad, Malolos City.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 18 March 2025
While I was processing my many realizations and lessons about perspectives and point of view (POV) following our team-building activities over the weekend, the venue’s architecture fascinated me, particularly its solid design of the staircase. I felt they all conveyed to me the very thoughts percolating in me that day of how our perspectives affect our communications, for better or for worst (https://lordmychef.com/2025/03/17/on-the-road-to-my-60th-perspectives-and-pov/).
Where we stand on the staircase is our POV – above on top, at the middle stop or at the bottom part. But how we look at the staircase reveals our perspectives, either we are looking up from or looking down to the floor that can have different impact with others.
The perspectives and views from that experience in Canyon Woods Resort Club in Batangas remained with me until Monday when I arrived at the Sacred Heart Novitiate in Novaliches where I have been going on my personal retreat since 2016.
Stairs at the new Blessed Peter Faber Hall.
It was another lesson in perspectives. They were the same stairs that have been there for almost 75 years with some younger at 30 years which I have seen and walked on the past nine years but it was only now that I have recognized their unique beauty.
And lessons.
Stairs at the main and oldest building at the Sacred Heart Novitiate leading to its chapel at the second floor.
Things change greatly when we see them from the top and from below. The same sights can evoke fear and dangers, or joy of being challenged to climb the flight of stairs.
View from top upon exit from the chapel, same stairs, different perspective.
Perspectives also change especially when we use the modern apps in cameras and phone cameras today like the iPhone 16 I am using lately.
Access ramp at the Faber Hall directly leading to the modern Chapel of the Holy Family.
One can change perspectives by simply editing a photo to change its “mood” to soften or strengthen its impact. Or, change its color to the traditional Black & White I have always loved.
B&W photos evoke simplicity and mystery at the same time. They converse with viewers as if inviting you to provide the “colors”. See the “ironing board” or plantsahan under the stairs that remind us of home.
Our focus and point-of-view convey different perspectives of the same objects as seen from different angles. In this shot below of the side stairs to the dorms at the second and third floors of the Blessed Faber Building are very inviting as if leading you to light or enlightenment that is primarily the reason of most people going on recollections and retreats here.
There is the sense of openness, of opening to God too not only with emphasis on the light that falls on each step but also in revealing the back or bottom part of the stairs, there is the perspective of courage to bare what’s inside. Or underneath. A sense of sincerity.
What’s in a stairway? There were the stairs that caught my attention in Batangas because it was my first time to be there at Canyon Woods Resort Club.
But, here again in my “happy place”, my “Bethel” where like Jacob I “wrestle” with God in prayers every year? Why my attention?
Blame it partly to my anticipation for the coming Netflix documentary on Led Zeppelin whose masterpiece Stairway to Heaven had made a tremendous impact on me as a child growing up in the 1970’s.
During that time, I have heard older people saying rock music was of the devil but I wondered why, if Led Zeppelin was diabolic, were they singing something about the heaven like Stairway to Heaven?
Stairs to the second floor dorm of the Sacred Heart Novitiate, 17 March 2025.
Later on in Grade 5 and 6 in the late 70’s, I heard our religion teachers that included nuns at St. Paul College-Bocaue spoke about Jacob’s dream of a “stairway to heaven”.
Immediately, I realized rock music isn’t bad at all!
And so, after classes I would come home early enough ahead of my father so that I could listen to DZRJ-AM that played all the classic and modern rock music of that time along with Juan Dela Cruz Band and other Pinoy rakistas.
A cozy resting place for souls trying to reach heaven at the mezzanine room of a spiritual director, Sacred Heart Novitiate, Novaliches, QC, 17 March 2025.
Good that I did not listen to some aunts who insisted that I could not become a priest if I followed rock music which did not hinder at all my listening to God about my priestly calling. In 1998, I was ordained priest while still rockin and rollin’ with Led Zep, Steely Dan and other rock bands.
As a priest turning sigisty (60) soon and 27 years in the ministry, my perspective on stairs have evolved: as a priest, my job is to lead others to heaven – whatever song they may be singing. God bless everyone!
Exactly a week before a I turn 60 this Saturday, I was told to join our management committee in their team-building seminar in Batangas. As chaplain of the University, I had to lead the prayers and of course celebrate the Mass the following Sunday.
For the second time since I came to our University, our university officials and administrators had me included in the games that capped the talks in the morning. What a big surprise when finally I was able to decode an experience I have always had with students since my ordination in 1998 whenever I would prepare kids for their First Communion. There has always been this one recurring problem whether in a Catholic school, public school or non-sectarian school – the usual confusion of many children on how to make the Sign of the Cross properly.
Kids are first confused with their left and right hands, on which to make the Sign of the Cross; and their second confusion is where to place the finger(s) for each Person of the Trinity. Even if I have explained we use our right hand with the index and middle fingers together in making the Sign of the Cross, the children are confused at the actual execution because when I face them, they always tried imitating me by instinctively raising their left hand to imitate my movement; everything breaks loose when we make the Sign of the Cross, saying “In the name of the Father” with the fingers on the forehead, and “of the Son” with fingers on their navel and the most confusing part, when they say “and of the Holy” placing their fingers on right instead of left shoulder as they saw me … “Spirit” on the left instead of the right shoulder.
But when I stand beside them, when I am with them as we all face the same direction to the front, children easily learn and follow the Sign of the Cross: no problem raising the right hand because we are all side by side with each other. Most of all, easier to follow the “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” because we are all on the same side. They can easily follow and imitate me.
More than the point of view (POV) in praying, kids realize my perspective better on how I see the Blessed Trinity with the Father up in heaven (forehead), the Son born by the Blessed Mother (navel) and the Holy Spirit as our guide (shoulders).
Very often, POV and perspective are used interchangeably but they are actually worlds apart. And that’s where most confusions arise.
A point of view refers to who is telling the story as a first person, second person, or third person. Perspective is deeper than a POV – it is how the speaker sees the world, it is the interplay of the speaker’s inner dynamics based on one’s beliefs and experiences as well as background. Many times, our perspective colors our POV so much that we presume everything is understood like what the youth would claim as, alam na this! when in fact, hindi nga pala!!!
Our perspectives lead us to what we call “curse of knowledge” when we presume everybody knew what we knew or everybody understood what we have understood. I should have known this long ago while working in radio and television when we were taught to never assume the listener or the viewer knows anything. That is why the TV is called an “idiot box” – because viewers are deemed idiots, a perspective not seen by many viewers because those writers are so good in influencing our perspectives!
Back to our games last weekend in Batangas…
In the second to the last activity we had, ten members of each group were blindfolded, with each holding a string attached to a garter band as its center that would be used to “catch” or “hold” a tennis ball from the ground. One member acts as a leader – in our group it was I! – who gave the instructions and commands to either pull or release one’s string to open or close the garter to hold the tennis ball that had to be brought around a cone without dropping it until the group returns to their starting point. Everything depended entirely on the instructions of the leader and we lost the game miserably because my instructions were not clear enough because it was affected by my perspectives: if I told them to move to my right, it was actually the left of others and vice versa!
That’s when I realized that not everyone sees what we see at the same time. Our perspectives, the way we see things are different that when people tell us something from a different perspective like me in that game, I felt so easy to turn to either left or right because I could see everything but not those blindfolded.
It was very much like in teaching grade three students preparing for their First Communion: when I stood beside them, there was no confusion in using the right hand in making the Sign of the Cross unlike when I just merely faced them, instructing them something that looked so different when executed.
Many times I have been complaining why young people these days have to be “spoon-fed” with everything because we older ones presume they know and understand everything like us! They don’t even know what Cortal is!
Our problem these days is not the generation gap which is actually not a problem but a situation we can easily grasp if we widen our perspectives in life and about other people by being one with them, by being open to them like a friend.
“Don’t walk in front of me, I may not follow; Don’t walk behind me, I may not lead; Walk beside me, just be my friend” (Albert Camus).
When we are fixated with our own perspectives, we tend to assume a lot, then fail to consider others’ perspectives even points of view that lead to breakdown in communication, confusions and misunderstanding then failures.
Many times, we may have the same POV with the same situation but widely different in perspectives. It is impossible to explain or even grasp and feel our hugot for our perspective but by being open, being a friend to others can greatly improve our relationships and productivity. By being more focused with a goal, with an ideal, despite our diverse perspectives, we can still move forward and work together. Best examples were the Twelve Apostles of Jesus who were all of different perspectives in life due to their contradicting backgrounds but were able to achieve the impossible in the grace of God.
Perspectives have to be formed and refined. Like architects and other artists in drawing their “perspectives” of a building or any project, they undergo years of intensive studies and practice to produce things of great beauty. But more than what they know, it is mostly what and how they feel being with other people in trying to see their perspectives which they blend with theirs to create their masterpiece like office buildings and homes, a fashion clothes and jewelries, sculptures and poetry.
Beautiful things happen when there is a blending of peoples’ different perspectives. That is why God became human to finally show us in Jesus Christ his perspective of holiness and goodness, of love and mercy that make us truly a human person, his image and likeness. Jesus did that when he suffered and died on the Cross to be one with us in our sins and mortality so that we may be one with him in his holiness and eternity, blending and uniting our perspectives.
Hope you find this perspective enlightening. Have a blessed day.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-27 ng Pebrero 2025
Larawan kuha ni G. Lorenzo Atienza, detalye ng dulong kaliwa na bahagi ng stained glass sa National Shrine ng Fatima, Valenzuela City na nagsasaad ng EDSA People Power, 25 Pebrero 2025.
Hinding hindi mabubura ninuman ang makasaysayang People Power Revolution ng Pebrero 1986. Ito ay kung hindi natin malilimutan at higit sa lahat kung ating lilinangin mga aral ng kauna-unahang mapayapang pag-aaklas sa buong mundo.
Katulad ng kalsadang EDSA na sagisag ngayon ng nabubulok nating bayan, malaki pa rin ang pag-asa na maaayos at mapatatatag ang diwa ng People Power 1986.
Kaya sa diwa nito, tama lamang at ipinag-adya na rin siguro ng Diyos na mayroong pasok ang mga tanggapan at paaralan tuwing Pebrero 25 mula noong isang taon sa ilalim ng Administrasyong BBM.
Bagaman ako ay nalungkot na hindi ito ginawang piyesta upisyal ng Pangulo, higit kong naunawaan kahapon ang magandang pagkakataon ibinigay pa nga ni BBM sa atin para sa EDSA 1986.
Nasobrahan tayo ng mga pagdiriwang noong sariwa pa ang EDSA 1986 hanggang sa naging palasak na lamang ito dahil sa pangingibabaw ng mga kasiyahan at mga kaartehan ng mga sumunod na taon. Sa isang banda, ang sarap ng EDSA Anniversary noong nakaupo pa si Tita Cory – yugyugan magdamag doon sa kanto ng EDSA at Ortigas.
At pagkatapos, lawa na.Logtu ng konti, sokpadoodle na sa otra kinabukasan.
Ano nangyari? Wala.
At ganun na lang ang EDSA Anniversaries nang mga sumunod na taon na mismo tayong mga beterano ay napagod na rin sa kawalan ng saysay ng mga programa at higit sa lahat, ng pagtataksil ng maraming pinuno noon na ipinaglaban, ipinagtanggol natin noon na iyon pala ay katulad lang din ng mga pinatalsik noong 1986.
Larawan kuha ni Pete Reyes kina Sr. Porfiria “Pingping” Ocariza (+) at Sr. Teresita Burias nananalangin upang pigilan mga kawal sasalakay sana noon sa mga rebelde sa Kampo Crame noong People Power 1986.
Pebrero 22 ng gabi ay nasa Aristocrat Restaurant kami sa kanto ng Quezon Ave. at EDSA para sa final deliberation ng mga hurado sa kauna-unahang USTetika Literary Contest ng Varsitarian ng UST.
Proyekto ng co-staffer namin at kaibigan na si G. Vim Nadera ang USTetika na mula sa salitang “aesthetic”. Bantog na guro at makata ngayon si Vim. Tuwang-tuwa ako noon na sinama niya ako hindi lamang para kumain at gumimik pagkatapos kungdi makadaupang-palad mga bigating pangalan sa panitikan tulad ng mga makata na sina Cirilo Bautista, Bienvenido Lumbrera, Alfredo Navarro Salanga na tunay ngang heavyweight, ang propesora naming si Ophelia Dimalanta na pangunahing babaeng-makata sa wikang Ingles at marami pang iba.
Nang malapit nang matapos ang pulong, binulungan kami ni Gng. Jesselyn Dela Cruz na umuwi na raw kami kaagad sabi ni Sir Felix Bautista na aming Publications Director sa Varsitarian at tagapagsalita noon ni Cardinal Sin. Malabo ang mga kuwento maliban sa kumalas na raw noon sina Enrile at Ramos kay Marcos. Yun lang. Baka raw magkagulo.
Siyempre, mga kabataang typical, wala kaming balak sumunod sa utos sa amin hanggang sa magulat kami nang aming baybayin ang Timog at Morato naghahanap ng club na sarado halos lahat habang dagsa mga sasakyan sa mga gasolinahan.
Hindi kami nabagabag kasi full tank ang kotse ng tatay ko noon kaya uminom pa rin kami nina Vim kina Dwight sa Sampaloc at saka umuwi. Kinabukasan pagkagising ko, araw ng Linggo, February 23, di ko malaman kung ako ay lasing sa mga balitang pinag-uusapan at napapakinggan sa radyo. Pagkaraan ng tanghalian, sumama kami ng kapatid ko si Meg na nooy second year college din sa UST sa mga kababaryo namin sakay ng isang trak ng bato papuntang EDSA para sumama sa People Power.
Mula sa wikipedia.org.
Dumating kami ni Meg at mga kasama sa EDSA bandang hapon. Parang sasabog sa tuwa aking dibdib na tila ako ay nanlalamig, naiiyak sa tuwa sa aking nakita: sarado EDSA-Cubao ilalim at puno ng mga tao hanggang sa abot-tanaw!
Ang saya-saya!
Walang bad trip noon! Peace man ang atmosphere. Dala namin ay mga pakwan para sa mga kawal. Doon kami pumuwesto sa gate ng Crame sa Santolan na Boni Serrano ngayon dahil kulang daw ang bantay doon.
Kinagabihan, dumating ang balita na baka raw kami salakayin ng mga tangke mula Malakanyang via Sta. Mesa direcho pa-Santolan. Tinipon kami ng mga law students ng UP at kinausap, binigyan ng numero sa telepono na maari naming tawagan kapag daw nagkadamputan.
Hala! Hinila ko sa tabi ko si Meg. Wag ka kako lalayo sa akin at naisip ko agad Daddy ko sa bahay. Mas takot ako sa kanyang galit kesa sa mga tangke ni Macoy!
Larawan kuha ni G. Boy Cabrido, pagkakamayan ng mga kawal at mga madre at pari sa EDSA noong People Power Revolution ng 1986.
Sa pagkaka-alala ko, walang natakot sa amin. Walang umatras habang pasa pasa kami ng bolpen at papel para nga sa mga numero na tatawagang mga abogado kapag kami nakulong.
Noon ko narinig biglang nagsalita at lumapit sa isang law student kapitbahay namin na suki ng mommy ko sa tindahan, si Mr. Tiongson.
Hindi ko matandaan pangalan niya pero kaibigan siya ng lola ko. Maginoong maginoo. Respetado sa aming barangay. Negosyante na gumagawa ng mga plastic art sa mga jeep na pampasahero noon. Palagi niya ako sinasama at ng mga anak niya sa pagbibisikleta sa mga looban ng Bocaue, Sta. Maria, at Marilao sa Bulacan noon.
Makisig at matipuno si Mr. Tiongson. Six footer siguro. Naka-salamin medyo kalbo ng konti pero balbas sarado. At malaki ang boses. Sabi ng lola ko, dati raw Huk na naging NPA si Mr. Tiongson pero tumiwalag na.
Sa gitna ng dilim ng gabi sa isang kalye sa Santolan, ito ang sinabi ni Mr. Tiongson sa mga taga-UP Law na tumayong mga namumuno sa amin sa kalyeng iyon: “ako na ang lulugar sa unahan. Laban namin ito na hindi na dapat umabot pa sa ganito kung kami ay nanindigan noon.”
Humanga ako sa mama lalo noon. Pero hindi ko naunawaan sinabi niya hanggang kahapon na lamang nang pumasok ako bilang chaplain dito sa Our Lady of Fatima University sa Valenzuela.
Larawan kuha ni G. Lorenzo Atienza, ang Canonically Crowned National Pilgrim Image of Fatima na tinanghal nina Ramos noon sa EDSA 1986 na nasa pangangalaga ngayon ng National Shrine of Fatima sa Valenzuela, 25 Pebrero 2025.
Bago ako magmisa sa aming kapilya kahapon habang nagdarasal, parang kislap ng liwanag na dumatal sa aking kamalayan mga sinabi ni Mr. Tiongson noong 1986 sa Santolan: hindi pa tapos ang laban ng EDSA 1986.
Laban natin ito. Kumupas man ito, bumaligtad at nagtaksil ang ilan, laban nating lahat ito na dapat ipagpatuloy, linangin at palalimin. Higit sa lahat, dalisayin sa panalangin dahil kulang ang EDSA 1986 kung wala sina Jesu-Kristo at kanyang Mahal na Ina, ang Birhen ng Fatima. Mula sa karanasan ni Mr. Tiongson na kapitbahay namin noon, hindi ko papayagan manghinayang ako sa huli na tinalikuran ko ang EDSA 1986 kaya balang araw ay malagay sa peligro mga susunod na saling-lahi.
Kahapon din ang unang guning-taon ng pagkaka-korona sa National Pilgrim Image ng Fatima na siyang imahen na tinanghal nina Ramos noong People Power sa EDSA ng 1986! Narito sa National Shrine of Fatima sa Valenzuela ang naturang imahen mula pa noong ika-17 ng Oktubre 1999, sa loob ng isang munting kapilya na maaring puntahan ng mga deboto at peregrino.
Tama lang mayroong pasok sa upisina at mga paaralan tuwing Pebrero 25 upang higit nating mapagnilayan muli ang diwa ng EDSA 1986, maisalaysay sa mga bata upang ipaunawa sa kanila ang kahalagahan at kahulugan ng tunay na kalayaan na batay sa pagtitiwala sa Diyos.
Hindi mabubura ang EDSA 1986 sa ating kasaysayan kung ipagpapatuloy natin ang kuwento at adhikain nito hanggang sa tayo ay magkaisa muli bilang sambayanan at mga alagad ni Kristo – kasama ni Maria, ang Birhen ng Fatima.
Larawan kuha ni Ka Ruben, bagong stained glass ng National Shrine of Fatima sa Valenzuela, Oktubre 2024; makikita sa dulong bahagi sa kaliwa ilang tagpo sa EDSA 1986.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 05 February 2025
Photo by author, Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria, Dumaguete City, 07 November 2024.
Discipline is a word so misunderstood these days that too often, it is frowned upon or even feared by many. In this age of so much “freedom” without any regard to “responsibility”, discipline has become its main casualty.
Discipline has very interesting origins. From the Latin verb discere which is to learn or to follow, its noun is disciplina for teaching or learning from which came the word discipulus for disciple, a follower or a pupil. Hence, a person of discipline is one who follows or obeys teachings.
The more disciplined a person is, the more free a person becomes!
As we have mentioned at the start, due to the wrong perception of “freedom” these days as the ability to do whatever one wants, many see discipline as suppression of freedom. But what is most true is its opposite – the more disciplined a person is, the more free the person becomes!
Photo by author, sunrise at St. Paul Spirituality Center, Pico, La Trinidad, Benguet, 06 January 2025.
When we discipline ourselves in every aspect of our lives like in food and drink intake, in using our time wisely, in budgeting our money and resources among other things, the more we become free to many other things in life. Remove discipline and do whatever you like in your life, eventually you become “unfree” because definitely you will miss your responsibilities and obligations like studies in school and duties at home and the office.
Freedom is never absolute. It has always been limited to choosing and doing what is good. When freedom is abused, it can lead us into being not free at all.
Likewise, some people think discipline is temporary and optional. Many believe that discipline is just for kids and young people who ought to follow their parents and elders. What about adults following their superiors and those above them in the natural and social hierarchy of things and relationships? This perhaps explain the reason why there is a growing complaint against young people lacking respect to elders and those in authority.
Discipline is a life-long process, the one sure thing we would need even rely upon so much as we age and get old. Discipline is imposed and taught in our younger age so that we would mature, grow and develop as persons. It is a lifelong process, a habit, a good that we keep on doing until we die. Or, even if we get old and sick, discipline is our North Star, the Polaris within ourselves especially when everything is dark, when we seem lost in life. Discipline enables us to succeed and be fulfilled in life. Find any bum and surely you shall find no discipline at all; but, you can never find a successful person without any discipline.
“Jesus Unrolls Book In the Synagogue” painting by James Tissot (1886-1894), brooklynmuseum.org
Our Lord Jesus Christ is the most perfect example of a disciplined person, of leading a disciplined life. All evangelists tell us how Jesus always went to the synagogue on a sabbath to worship and to preach. Most of all, Jesus always prayed early in the morning or later in the evening in some deserted place. These were all forms of discipline He must have learned from His parents Mary and Joseph who were both portrayed in the gospels as devout Jews, both with high degrees of discipline in life even before Christ was born.
Prayer after all is a discipline, something we have to cultivate that leads to a loving relationship with God and with others too! And here we find the deeper reality of discipline which is not just a human effort and endeavor. Discipline is the work of God, His gift and grace to each one of us to have fulfillment in life
Discipline is not just a human effort; discipline is the work of God too!
Brothers and sisters: You have also forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as children: My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges. Endure your trials as “discipline”… At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it (Hebrews 12:5-7, 11).
Photo by author, St. Scholastica Spirituality Center, Tagaytay, August 2024.
How I wish parents would still use that analogy by the author of the Letter to the Hebrews regarding discipline. When we were growing up, our parents would always explain to us after scolding us due to misdemeanor or a mistake that it was to discipline us in doing what is right or what is good.
This is something so evident these days, when you hear the older folks saying how life was more orderly before because of discipline unlike today. And one may find this lack of discipline everywhere – in public places not only home, including in churches. Partly to be blamed for that is us, the older folks who have stopped teaching discipline to kids and the youth.
Lately I have been seeing many of my former students in elementary and high school. I have always known many of them hated me when in school because I was a strict teacher (and priest). Including many of our teachers too! That is why whenever we talked about their school days, I always asked them to forgive me for making their lives so difficult as I demanded excellence and precision in their studies and most of all, discipline at all times like cleanliness in their clothing and bearing, order and silence in classrooms, and of course, proper decorum inside the church.
At the wedding of one of my former student with his classmates in January 2020.
Surprisingly, they always ended up thanking me for the discipline I have taught and instilled in them that according to them led to their success in both their personal and professional life. Many of them have their family of their own now with some living overseas. It brings me so much joy with some tears when they tell me how they have taught their own children of the discipline I drilled in them about studies and reading, of prayer, and of simply being the very best for God in everything. It is the same thing with some of our teachers who have remained some of my dearest friends today with some living and working abroad. In fact, they claimed that it was my “terroristic discipline” that greatly prepared them for their lives and work in foreign lands and cultures.
We need to discipline ourselves for God’s grace to work in us. And remember, grace builds on nature – that’s the beauty of discipline: the more we practice it, the more blessed we become! It is a built-in app or program God has installed in each of us. Use it extensively by switching it on always. In case there’s a glitch, still, switch it on and surely it would work. As always. Have a disciplined week ahead.
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 03 February 2025
Photo from the Presentation Chapel of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC.
Every night before going to bed, we priests and religious along with some laypeople pray the Compline or Night Prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours. From the Latin completus, the Compline completes the daily prayers of the Church.
It is also my most favorite since our seminary days when we chanted Simeon’s Canticle which we heard proclaimed in yesterday’s gospel in the celebration of the Feast of the Lord’s Presentation.
He (Simeon) came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him, he took him in his arms and blessed God, saying: “Now, Master you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel” (Luke 2:27-32).
A painting of Simeon with the Child Jesus from the dailyprayerblog.blogspot.com
The Simeon Moment is befriending death as we find Jesus Christ.
The “Simeon Moment” is when we are like Simeon in realizing that nothing matters most in this life except God found within us and those closest to us like family and friends whom we would never trade for anybody and anything. It is finding true joy in Christ alone that we are able to befriend death like St. Francis of Assisi who called death a “cousin”.
According to Luke, God had promised Simeon that he would not die until he had seen the promised Messiah (Christ). All his life, Simeon prayed and offered sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem awaiting the coming of Christ – and he was not disappointed even if it took so long! That is why, he burst into a song which we now pray every night because that is when we experience in the stillness of the darkness within and outside us that only Jesus and always Jesus who fulfills us.
Those who have cared and lost a loved one to cancer or any terminal illness have experienced that “Simeon Moment”. Remember when our loved ones have finally accepted their fate, when they suddenly become more emotionally stable and even joyful in their dispositions? Unlike before when they were first diagnosed with their illness, they were so afraid, always crying but as they came to embrace the reality, they cried less with a strong sense of courage while we are the ones crying more and most stressed out?
Photo by author, November 2024.
That is because the dying must have seen their their final destination in life, Jesus Christ. Like Simeon during the presentation at the temple after seeing and holding in his hands so close to himself the Holy Infant, we find the dying so calm and peaceful during their final hours because they have seen or were already in the presence of the Lord.
Like Simeon, they were silently joyful in Christ’s presence while we who were left behind cried not only due to the pain and sadness of separation but because we do not know where we are going, where we are heading unlike our departed loved ones.
Feel the courage and confidence of Simeon boldly telling God to “take him” at that instance because he had found Jesus Christ. Its Filipino translation says it so well, “Kunin mo na, Panginoon, ang iyong abang alipin, ayon sa iyong pangako, yamang nakita na ng aking mga mata ang iyong pagliligtas (Lk.2:29-30).”
We Filipinos often take it as a joke, always laughing to dismiss the topic or cope with the reality that to see God literally means to die like when we say “gusto nang makita si Lord”. But, that was how Simeon really felt because he had literally seen the Son of God, as if telling him to take him “now na!” because the Simeon Moment is therefore we have that realization within us that coming to terms with death is coming to terms with life, and vice versa.
Photo from crossroadinitiative.com.
The Simeon Moment is living in the Holy Spirit
Wherever is Jesus Christ, there is always the Holy Spirit. We will never find Christ and have the Simeon Moment unless we are attuned first with Holy Spirit who animates us and opens us to Christ’s coming.
Imagine the great crowds of people at the temple on that day, of couples trying to fulfill the law of Moses of purification and presenting their first-born son to God. How did Simeon know Joseph and Mary were the parents of the Christ? How was he able to accurately spot and find Jesus is the Messiah amid the many male children being offered on that day at the temple?
“To come in the Spirit” like Simeon is more than being faithful to God; it is having a good and pure heart that is ready to believe and act openly with courage, always looking forward at the fulfillment of what we believe. Coming in the Spirit is being at the right place at the right time when we make things happen than wait, exactly how Luke portrayed Simeon and Anna who both lived in the presence of God! Coming in the Spirit is living in the present moment in God.
We cannot see Christ nor live in the Spirit unless we humbly submit ourselves to God, our Lord and Master. Seeing Christ and living in the Spirit presuppose humility before God – we His creatures, He our Lord and Master.
Most of all, our origin and our end too!
It is the principle and foundation of life as St. Ignatius of Loyola stressed in his Spiritual Exercises, “El hombre es criado para alabar, hacer reverencia y servir a Dios nuestro Señor, y mediante esto, salvar su anima”, that is, “Man is created to praise and serve God his Lord and Master and by doing this save his soul”.
There is something so beautiful and lovely, so touching in the opening verse of Simeon’s canticle that underscores firmly this basic truth we have always forgotten since the fall of Adam and Eve when he asked God to take him after seeing the Christ. Every time we sin, we act like Adam and Eve, playing gods, desiring to be like God.
Also known as Nunc Dimittis, Simeon’s canticle echoes the fiat of Mary to God during the Annunciation, expressing his fidelity and humility, his total submission to God. Most of all, it summarizes both the Magnificat of the Blessed Mother and the Benedictus of Zechariah, making Simeon’s Nunc Dimittis the finale in Luke’s Christmas “concert” on the birth of the Messiah.
This is the reason why we chant Nunc dimittis at the end of our Night Prayer. It is the perfect prayer to close each day as we prepare for the coming new day to meet Jesus again, hoping we may be enlightened in our life’s mission expressed by the antiphon we recite before and after chanting it, “Protect us Lord as we stay awake; watch over us as we sleep that awake we may keep watch with Christ and asleep rest in his peace”.
Or, if ever we ever do not wake up the following day, we still thank God all the more in making us meet Jesus the past day, eager to finally sing to him our praises in eternity with Night Prayer’s final blessing, “May the Lord grant us a restful night and a peaceful death”.
The Simeon Moment is a grace and gift Jesus gives us daily not only for the dying but to everyone of us seeking Him, awaiting Him like Simeon. And like Simeon, we are assured that anyone who seeks and awaits God is never disappointed. Have a blessed day in Christ Jesus! Amen.
Photo by author, sunrise bursting through thick fogs over Taal Lake in Bgy. Dayap Itaas, Laurel, Batangas, 17 January 2025.
The Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 27 December 2024
Photo by author, DRT, Bulacan, 23 November 2024.
Many people these days claim that “budol is life” when nothing escapes hackers and scammers in stealing money from hard-working OFW’s to housewives, students and retirees including priests and religious called to always lend a hand to those in need.
One collateral damage more serious than scammers and hackers in this cashless transactions and e-wallet is the perversion of our cherished values of gift-giving especially at Christmas as well as our generosity in lending money to those struggling with their financial needs.
I am referring to the erroneous advertising efforts by the highly popular GCash that is creating a generation of people lacking in shame and respect for others. We say it so well in Filipino – kawalan ng kahihiyan or hindi na marunong mahiya.
Though I do not have a GCash without any plans of getting one, e-wallets like online banking by nature is good. It is very innovative, so helpful in providing a convenient, safe, and reliable exchange of money in a cashless manner. However, though the problem lies mostly on those who abuse its system, GCash is still guilty of perverting the values of Christmas and practically of the essence of gift-giving by promoting online or virtual pamamasko.
Photo by author, San Fernando, Pampanga, November 2021.
Like the online Mass, there is no such thing as virtual pamamasko that supposes an actual presence, a face-to-face meeting to greet anyone with a Merry Christmas.
Pamamasko is one Filipino tradition worth keeping wherein once a year we visit not only our godparents (Ninong and Ninang) but also our relatives and friends as well to personally greet and wish them a Merry Christmas. It is only on this joyous day when some people could really meet as relatives and friends next to funerals and wakes.
But, when the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2020 and limited our social interactions, some inaanak (godchildren) pushed the limits of GCash when they dared to greet their godparents with Merry Christmas via text messages that had their GCash account number included.
From Instagram, 26 December 2024.
It is a virtual hold-up in fact, the start of that dictum “budol is life”. Worst of all, it had spawned a generation of people who are bastos (rude) and kapal-muks (thick-faced)!
Sorry for the words but that’s the kind of people who use social media to get money from anyone except for purchase transactions. Christmas is about love and being together. Iyon lang!
As far as our generation is concerned (GenX and those before us), pamamasko is not about money but the spread of love and joy of Christmas. The money given was just a “consolation” that is why the amount never mattered at all. Salamat kung may bigay, okey lang kung wala because what really mattered was to be present with our elders to assure them they are loved and remembered.
Sad to say, GCash had normalized this kabastusan and kakapalan ng mukha with their ads on the internet about sending Christmas greetings with a reminder not to forget to send their QR Code. In normalizing this despicable manner of greeting Merry Christmas, GCash in effect showed its true color of being self-serving. And bastos and kapal-muks too!
We hope GCash will stop this kind of advertisement that is grossly erroneous and wrong. They are not teaching our young to be worthy people of dignity and respect, eroding our social fabric and made shamelessness as normal. Pera-pera na lang ba talaga tayo ngayon?
See how almost daily we find in social media of many friendships and relationships marred and destroyed with some people abusing GCash, borrowing money online especially by mere acquaintances. That is just a hairline difference between them and those scammers!
From Instagram, 26 December 2024.
Gift-giving even the borrowing or lending of money are things that remain on a person-to-person level. Forcing others especially the well-meaning and good ones into the virtual world as we have now witnessed spawn scams and corruption. Modern technology can only be good for as long as it remains confined to its intended application like convenience, safety and reliability of having cashless transactions. What GCash has promoted this season is actually budol – not only of a literal hold-up of Ninong and Ninang but almost of everyone when some callous people dare to borrow money on line with the tag, “i-GCash mo na lang.”
The budol now rampant in e-wallets in effect is a result of their own unconscious budol for more clients and customers.
Let us bring back our true sense of shame and delicadeza. GCash is for transactions, for things to buy and pay for. Not for friends and relatives because they are persons to be loved, not objects to be used or possessed via GCash.
Maybe “budol is life” indeed, but, beware more of scams that erode our values than steal our money. These last two weeks until the new year, visit your godparents because of love and concern, not for the gift they will give you because that is the true spirit of Christmas. God bless and Merry Christmas!
Quiet Storm by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, 26 November 2024
Photo by author, Pulong Sampalok, DRT, Bulacan, 23 November 2024.
Since my mom’s passing in May, I have finally been more resolved in having days off and overnight breaks after some bouts with depression and grief. Last Friday I went to DRT – Doña Remedios Trinidad – the final frontier of Bulacan province where the Sierra Madres link us with Quezon and Rizal provinces.
The Retirement Home of the Dominican Sisters of St. Joseph at DRT.
Named after the mother of former First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos, DRT was a barrio or barangay of the town of Angat. When Mrs. Marcos separated Valenzuela from Bulacan province in the mid-70’s to create the Greater Manila Area (GMA) that became Metro Manila in the 1980’s, DRT was separated from Angat to become the last and youngest town of Bulacan.
It was actually a homecoming for me after 27 years when I chose to be assigned at Galilee Home, our diocesan rehab for drug dependents before our ordination as deacons in 1997 found at the opposite side of the Dominican Sisters’ House of Prayer where I stayed last weekend.
The Dominican Sisters of St. Joseph were so kind to welcome me to their spiritual center and had promised to join them there every fourth Saturday to celebrate their Mass by staying overnight for my much-needed rest or sabbath.
Indeed, it was a Sabbath to me, a return to Paradise, so close with nature where time seems to stand still or at least goes so slowly.
Those bamboo fences remind me so much of my childhood days in Bocaue; see how modernity represented by the electric meter competing with the countryside’s laid back atmosphere.
What I like seeing all the nature around me is when my memory is shuffled to those days as a promdi when like these kids we ruled supreme on the streets, never worried of being run over by vehicles so kind to stop if we were playing.
Lahat kasali – pati poste! Kids playing Chinese garter.
As my childhood memory sauntered, I realized it was truly another setting than the city when at 545PM I heard a mother shouting to her children, “kakain na… uwi na!” and the kids obediently went home.
Lovely sunset….
The following morning, as usual, I woke up at 5AM. Prayed and did my warm up exercises and shortly before 6AM, I went off to walk. My destination was the view deck of DRT where a giant statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary stands right after the welcome arch.
So peaceful… as if the whole world is yours!
Every time I walk around Valenzuela, I just bring about 200 pesos in my pocket and nothing else – no glasses which I hate so much and likewise, no cellphones. I find these as distractions.
But, that Saturday morning, I brought along my cellphone in order to shoot scenes and of course the sunrise.
Late did I realize on my way back that I should have brought my glasses for better focus especially with the abounding bird species in the area of Pulong Sampalok.
Oh, they were so many but I failed to catch them in my camera phone because I had no glasses…
Actually, not related to my not bringing of glasses, I got lost that morning.
Instead of turning right from the Damascus circle, I made a left.
Funny too while walking, I felt something was wrong with my t-shirt – it was baligtad!
Since nobody was around not even houses in the area, I changed my shirt and went happily in my walking.
Barrio folks have always believed that in order to find one’s way in the forest or anywhere, one has to change his/her shirt. Baligtarin ang suot na damit kontra sa tiyanak.
But, despite that act of pagbaligtad of my t-shirt, I still got lost and went onto high steeps that really challenged me so greatly.
Many times I had to stop to catch my breath. Even the cyclists I have met admitted it was a very steep climb while others opted to walk with their bikes.
All in all, I walked 6.69 kilometers without reaching the view deck but, God, I found so many views I never expected that truly refreshed me!
As I got lost walking nowhere, I realized life’s parable – that the most joyful and loveliest things are found in ordinary places like along the sides of the road like these plants and flowers as well as rock formations.
Many times in life, it is actually a grace to go nowhere, to get lost once in a while and simply keep on walking, trusting God for He would always find us a way to Him. Within.
Even met my former student in High School riding with his cousins to visit their lot in the area that Saturday!
What I like most as I have mentioned earlier are the natural fences people have in the countryside like these lovely garden at a store I passed by…
Even dogs seem to be most kind here… not a single dog barked at me despite my getting lost in their area!
Unfortunately, there have been a strong influx of settlers in DRT with presumably big people buying out large tracts of lands for future developments. What an ugly sight to see barbed wires in the mountain area.
And… whoa!
Or, is it the installation of the post that was wrong? Some misplaced priorities that destroy nature.
What kind of road construction is this?
Meanwhile… we are not sure if these are indicative of the climate change at all….
Join me next month in my “Friday I’m In Love” journey to cure my grief as I take you to Dumaguete City. Thank you for the visit! God bless!
I don't care if Monday's blue Tuesday's grey and Wednesday too Thursday, I don't care about you It's Friday, I'm in love Monday you can fall apart Tuesday, Wednesday, break my heart Thursday doesn't even start It's Friday, I'm in love (Friday I'm In Love by The Cure)
Lawiswis Ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-12 ng Nobyembre 2024
Larawan kuha ng may-akda, 07 Nobyembre 2024.
Dumating kasagsagan ng iyong init, sagad sa aking anit ngUnit alinsangan ay mapagtitiyagaan Mahirap tanggihan masuyo mong alindog Aking nadama saan man ako pumunta Gumala man ako sa gabi o Umaga, kapanatagan at kapayapaan parang tahanan Ewan kung anong hiwaga iyong angkin wala sa ibang puntahin nakaanTig nitong damdamin kaya aking pangako ikaw ay babalikan Eenganyahin kapatid at kaibigan maranasan iyong kagandahan.
Kuhay ng may-akda, takip-silim mula sa Rovira Suites, 10 Nobyembre 2024
DUMAGUETE hindi man kita agad na gets, ako ang iyong nadaget kaya ako ay babalik that's a promise I shall not forget!
Larawan kuha ng may-akda sa Boulevard, 10 Nobyembre 2024.
Lawiswis ng Salita ni P. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Ika-7 ng Nobyembre 2024
First time ko sa Dumaguete City.
Kabilin-bilinan ng mommy ko noong bata pa ako na basta first time ko saan mang lugar, una kong pupuntahan ang simbahan.
Kaya kanina pagdatng dito sa Dumaguete, una kong hinanap ang simbahan kahit ako ay nagugutom na. Nakakatuwa may kasabay din kaming mga panauhin at iyon din ang pakay nila bagamat inuna ang sikmura bago bumaba ang sugar.
Pagdating doon sa Katedral ni Santa Catherine ng Alexandria, ito ang eksenang bumungad sa akin.
Noong bata pa ako, magkahalong takot at pagkamangha aking nadarama tuwing isasama ako ng aking lola sa Quiapo at makakita ng maraming ganito magdasal – lumalakad ng paluhod.
Sa paglipas ng panahon, unti-unti nang nawala mga eksenang ito hanggang sa makakita ako muli kanina sa katedral ng Dumaguete.
Kay sarap pagmasdan at pagnilayan yaong mama na lumakad paluhod sa kanyang pagrorosaryo.
Sa panahong ito ng social media na lahat gusto siya ang bida, nawala na itong pagluhod na tanda ng pagpapakababa sa Diyos na higit na dakila sa lahat.
Ni hindi na rin nga alam ng karamihan ang pag-genuflect o pagluhod ng isang tuhod o “one-hod” kung aking tawagin bago pumasok ng upuan ng simbahan o “pew” tanda ng pag galang at pagkilala sa kasagraduhan ng lunan.
Ilang taon na nakakalipas pinuna ni Obispo Soc Villegas ang nawawalang gawi ng pagluhod ng mga tao; sa halip aniya, tayo ay nagiging “clap generation” – dinaraan ang lahat sa palakpakan. Sabi nga sa akin kamakailan ng isang kaibigan hindi raw niya maintindihan mga pari na magsasabi lang ng amen ay magpapalakpakan nang walang humpay mga tao. “I cannot”, eka niya.
Nanalangin ako ng ilang sandali sa katedral ng Dumaguete ng nakaluhod bago tumayo upang magtanghalian. Para na kasi akong nanghihina…
Hindi ba isang kabalintunaan kung pagninilayan, ang pagluhod ay tanda rin ng lakas ng katawan at tatag ng kalooban? Bakit nga ba tayo ngayon, sa dami ng mga gamot at pagkain, tila mahina pa rin, hindi na makaluhod para manalangin? Gaya nung mama na aking nakita, tila napakalakas pa rin niya at kayang-kaya pa ring lumakad paluhod.
O, iyon ding pagluhod niya ng madalas ang sa kanya nagpalakas?
Kasabay ko siya natapos sa pagdarasal. Hindi ko na siya kinunan ng larawan taglay kanyang aral ng kababaang-loob sa Diyos. At sa kapwa. Oras nang lumuhod. Amen.
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